Many countries around the world are in a unique position in human history: rather than having a constant or growing population, their populations are starting to shrink. This is not a temporary decline, caused by war or famine. There are plenty of population shocks like that in the history books.
Instead, this decline is structural. It is caused by falling birth rates.
If we look at the United Nations’ population estimates and medium projections, 64 countries and territories had already passed peak population in 2026…
Source: Our World in Data – A project of Global Change Data Lab
Our World In Data
- The rise of electoral democracy
- Which countries have already passed peak population, and when will the rest do so?
- 138 million children are in child labor. What does this actually mean?
- How primary energy is measured has changed across our charts
- What has driven deforestation in the 21st century?
Climate Change
- Air conditioning is almost universal in the US and Japan — but not elsewhere
- Hannah Ritchie’s book, Clearing the Air, is coming out in paperback in September
- How do we track a changing climate?
